Here's to Not Catching Our Hair on Fire

Did you know that if you forget to pay a speeding ticket you WILL get arrested—in front of your kids, the neighbors—the dog—and anyone else who happens to be there? And if someone tells you to give Bob Dole a lap dance you shouldn’t listen because you WILL get in trouble?

These and other nuggets of wisdom are imparted to offer those suffering from ADHD some hope in knowing that they are not alone. A hysterical romp through a life so convoluted and chaotic you know it has to be true, Stacey Turis’s debut gives a voice to the genius yet tormented souls suffering from giftedness, ADHD, or a combination of both (a condition known as twice-exceptional).

Chronicling her life journey from a state of self-loathing to one of self-acceptance, the stories flow timelessly, incorporating the resulting lessons and reflections gleaned from each adventure. Including both the tragic details of a horrifically abusive time in her childhood to comic adventures such as deciding to dye her hair plum the day before an important presentation only to have it turn out purple, her life has never suffered from a dull moment. And though she often thought Karma was the reason she found herself in so many “pickles,” a friend explained that when you put yourself out in the world more than anyone else, it’s really just a matter of statistics. Lucky for Turis and the rest of us, she’s put herself out there again to allow us all to look at life through her pair of less-struggle-more-sass glasses.

With over three hundred million people suffering from ADHD worldwide and experiencing many of the same debilitating symptoms, Turis’s goal is to share her experiences so others can rid themselves of the shame of hiding their behavior. A rip-roaring and bracingly honest look at a twice-exceptional life, Here’s to Not Catching Our Hair on Fire: An Absent-Minded Tale of Life with Giftedness and Attention Deficit—Oh Look! A Chicken! is a rollicking depiction of a life that seems to be constantly going off the rails.

Kirkus Reviews - The World's Toughest Book Critics SMTuris’ memoir is a bright-side report from the dark side of attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder—also known as AD(H)D.Although none of us really knows what “normal” is, we can usually spot “different” a mile away. Folks with AD(H)D are definitely different, with brains and bodies that operate according to their own rules. But what is AD(H)D, and why does it matter? Turis answers these questions frankly in this insightful, amusing glimpse into atypical intelligence. The work starts by presenting the harsh bottom line: “Families, marriages, jobs, relationships…they all display the scars from the battle that is AD(H)D. Nothing comes out unscathed—absolutely nothing.”

Turis’ examples of this are so honest that the book is sometimes painful to read, but that serves its purpose. Folks afflicted with the syndrome will recognize themselves in Turis’ story and find comfort in her upbeat attitude, while “normal” people will gain knowledge toward understanding and accepting the “billion gifts and…gazillion heartaches” that go with AD(H)D. Readers unfamiliar with the condition will learn what all those letters mean. The title captures their essence, and from both title and subject one might expect the narrative to be jumpy. But, in fact, it flows smoothly through Turis’ ups and downs, with lucid descriptions of psychic states that most anyone can to relate to. Turis’ voice is vivid and engaging and her content informative.

Turis speaks to anyone associated with AD(H)D and offers her life as illustration of how to succeed despite its burden. For Turis and her fellow sufferers, getting through daily rituals and social or career obligations is like climbing Mt. Everest during a tornado. She offers a model for how it can be done, loaded with laughter and sobered by tears. A forthright, energetic memoir about AD(H)D.

Stacey Turis is an adult living with ADHD and giftedness who earned her degree in broadcast journalism from Wichita State University. She co-produced and hosted a TV show for a FOX affiliate before pursuing a career in advertising, then graphic design, then market research, then photography, then IT, then acting, then... In 2006, she became certified to teach Yoga but didn't, then founded pawsforpeace.com, an online, holistic pet-health site, with an iPhone app called Dr. Shawn's Natural Pet Therapies to match. In 2010, she developed a course to teach families how to live more natural lifestyles, which she taught for about a month. She then started a Facebook page called ADHD - Tales of an Absent-Minded Superhero, for wacky folks like herself. That is still exciting enough to hold her interest. She has, through the years, unsuccessfully started twenty-seven businesses but can't remember most of them. She lives in Texas with her husband, two kids, a dog, three cats, and eight goldfish. Stacey now spends her time speaking to groups of those same kinds of wacky people, where she’s not afraid to stop in the middle of a speech and ask “What was I talking about?” You can learn more at www.staceyturis.com.